Cows stolen from farm

Farmer says thieves cut fence

The Greene County Sheriff's Department is investigating a hefty theft after a farmer says someone stole thousands of dollars worth of cattle from his land.

Kyle Wills has been a cattle farmer for more than a decade. The 74-year-old said he's got the cream of the crop when it comes to cows. "The farm is a herd of registered Angus cattle that I'm very proud of. It's taken several years to build them up," he said.

But Tuesday night, Wills said someone stole some of his cattle. "It's a terrible thing," he said.

Wills got a call around 8:00 p.m. from a neighbor that his cows were lose. "We had no idea why the cattle were out," he said. "We checked both gates on the property and both were secure."

After round the cattle up and getting them back on the farm, Wills discovered seven cows and three calves were taken. His neighbor told him he saw a black Ford Dooley truck with a black cattle trailer loading the cows Tuesday night. "He thought it was my helpers moving the cattle," Wills said. "But it wasn't."

It wasn't until later that Wills noticed the thieves had cut his barbed wire fence and that's how the cows got out. "Of course, as they left, they didn't bother to patch the fence so the cattle were all over the neighborhood," said Wills.

Now, Wills is contacting the sheriff's departments in surrounding counties, calling auction sites, and warning other farmers in the area. "I want to bring awareness of things like this may be happening more and more," he said.

According to the Greene County Sheriff's Department, the cows are valued at more than $15,000. Wills said the cows do have identification tags.

Anyone with information about the suspected truck or the cows is asked to call the Greene County Sheriff's Department at (423) 798-1800.